Alternant Timelines
by Gavin52
Summary: Harry had undergone many crazy adventures, but this was perhaps the most surreal; turning up in 1945 and talking to Tom Riddle, his DADA teacher, as if he wasn't the mass murderer who had tried to kill Harry several times. Harry wondered whether life could get any crazier. He just hoped life didn't take that as a challenge.
1. Chapter 1

When Harry opened his eyes he was met with the familiar sight of the hospital wing ceiling. _And you can tell I've been here too many time by that fact that I can recognize the room by the ceiling alone,_ Harry thought. He tried to remember how he had been injured.

_Wait,_ Harry panicked, _I'm at Hogwarts. _How had that happened? The last thing he remembered was running from the snatchers. Harry struggled to remember what had happened after he, Ron, and Hermione had take off through the forest. His mind came up with nothing. He had no idea how he got here. _I guess the snatchers must have gotten me and taken me to Snape... Then why am I in the hospital wing?_

Harry sat up. Although he could not discern any injury every muscle seemed to ache. Looking around, Harry noticed the blackthorn wand and the pouch Hagrid had given him sitting on the bedside table. It was odd, Harry reflected, that they would leave him with his possessions. As he reached for the wand, Harry heard the door to the hospital wing open, and he glanced up just as he closed his fingers around his wand. This was a mistake as it caused Harry to loose his balance and fall off the bed.

Harry straightened up and pointed the wand at the person who had just walked through the door, who looked just like the late Albus Dumbledore. The wizard in question raised his eyebrows. The two stared at one another for several seconds.

"You're dead." Harry stated. The Albus Dumbledore look-alike only appeared mildly surprised.

"I'm fairly certain I'm alive, but I don't claim to be an expert on the subject." Several more seconds passed in silence. "Perhaps you've mistaken me for someone else, my name is Albus-" The wizard began, but Harry interrupted him

"Dumbledore, or so you claim." Harry finished. The maybe-Dumbledore nodded. Silence descended once again. Harry's eyebrows furrowed. Was it him, or was the man's hair still mostly auburn... A horrible realization struck him.

"Wh-what year is it?" Harry stuttered.

"1945." Answered Dumbledore. Harry dropped the blackthorn wand.

"I take it that was not the answer were expecting?" Dumbledore asked kindly. Harry merely shook his head. "What year did you think it was?"

"1998." Harry replied as he sat back down on the bed.

"Oh, that is a bit of a difference, isn't it? The furthest back any time turner has been able to go in two weeks..." Dumbledore mused, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. A numbness settled over Harry.

"What's your name, if you you don't mind me asking?" Harry looked up to see, as he had so many times before, Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkling. It mad him feel marginally better.

"Harry Potter. Do you have any idea what happened?"

"I found you just outside the Hogwarts grounds. Are you a student here?"

"Sort of, I mean I should be in my seventh year, but there were some special circumstances..." Harry trailed off. Wasn't that the understatement of the year.

"I see," Dumbledore replied, "I think the best thing for you to do is to enroll in your seventh year here and then you'll have the year to figure out your next step. I assure you I will do all in my power to restore you to your original time." Harry nodded.

"Alright, since you need to enroll and I am several hours late for a meeting with the headmaster, I suggest we head to his office together." Dumbledore stood up, waiting for Harry to do the same. After grabbing the pouch, his wand, and the robes sitting at the foot of his bed, Harry followed.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

When he and Dumbledore arrived at the headmaster's office, Harry bit back a gasp at its occupants. Headmaster Dippet he had expected, but the young Tom Riddle he had not.

"Ah, Albus, there you are, I was worried when you didn't show up for our chess game." Dippet said as soon as Dumbledore walked in. "May I present our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." He gestured at Riddle. For the second time within the hour, Harry felt as though he was going into shock. Thankfully he was able to restrain himself from shouting out, but not the horrified expression judging from the way Riddle was glaring at Harry.

"Yes, I was getting to know Harry here. He seems to have had an unfortunate accident with time." Dumbledore explained. This peaked both Dippet's and Riddle's interest.

"You mean he's a time traveler?" Dippet asked, looking at Harry for the first time.

"What year are you from?" asked Riddle softly.

"1998," Harry replied. The look of greed that glinted in the future dark lord's eyes terrified him more than Nagini disguised as Bathilda Bagshot had. He could tell Dumbledore had also noticed Riddle's expression.

"He's finished his sixth year-" Dumbledore began, but the headmaster interrupted him.

"And so he'll need to start his seventh year next month." Dippet finished, still regarding Harry with interest. Harry looked up.

"It's August?" He asked. Dumbledore was the only one who didn't appear phased.

"Was it not where you were?" Dumbledore asked kindly. Harry shook his head.

"Well..." began the headmaster, "I suppose we should sort you."

"Now?" Harry asked.

"Well, since you have no where else to stay and since its so close to the start of term, you can stay in the dormitories, but you'll need to be sorted before you can access them." Dippet explained. Harry nodded, dazed, as both the headmaster and Dumbledore rushed around finding the stool and hat and putting together all the necessary paperwork. Riddle, meanwhile, just stared at Harry, either oblivious or indifferent to how uncomfortable it was making Harry.

"Alright, have a seat," Dumbledore told Harry, gesturing to the three legged stool. Harry sat, and the hat was dropped over his eyes.

_ "Well, this is something I've never done before," _Harry heard the hat murmur. _"You're clearly even more of a Gryffindor than the first time we met... but is that still the right house for you? Perhaps not... Better you go to SLYTHERIN"_ The hat shouted. Dippet smiled at Harry as the hat was removed. Riddle looked rather smug and Dumbledore appeared thoughtful. As for Harry, he was fairly certain his eyes were as round as they could go. Dumbledore was the first to notice.

"Were you expecting something else?" The future headmaster asked.

"I was in Gryffindor last time." Harry replied. Dumbledore, Riddle, and Dippet all looked faintly unsettled.

"Well, Tom, why don't you show Harry to the Slytherin common room, and Albus and I contact the ministry about the time travel issue." Dippet suggested. Tom smiled slightly. Harry found it unnerving.

"Certainly, headmaster." And with an uncertain glance toward Dumbledore, Harry followed his lifelong nemesis down the spiral staircase.

The silence that followed Harry and Riddle was extremely uncomfortable. As the pair passed the great hall, Riddle spoke up.

"So how did you wind up time traveling?" He asked. His hands were clasped behind his back, projecting what Harry thought was a false air of non-chalance.

"I, erm, don't know. I remember running through the forest and the next thing I know I was in the hospital wing." Harry answered honestly. They walked down a marble staircase. "So, you're going to teach DADA..." Harry trailed off, hoping to keep the conversation off of himself.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it," Riddle replied politely.

"Why become a teacher so young, why not become an auror or curse breaker if you're interested in that subject?" Harry asked, even though he knew it was because Riddle was hoping to gather followers.

"I guess I wasn't ready to leave Hogwarts yet, and it will give me a chance to do a little research..." Riddle trailed off. They had arrived at the entrance to the common room.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry sat with his back to the wall in the room of requirement. He had paced back and forth in front of the tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy and the almost ballet trolls with the phrase _I need a place to think_ running through his head. The room had replicated his old cupboard from Privet Drive.

Voldemort was a professor. The implications of this were making Harry's head spin. Most of all he kept thinking that this should not be possible.

Compared to the average witch or wizard, Harry felt he was extremely well versed on the subject of time travel. After using Hermione's time turner, his friend had been ecstatic to have someone to take to about time travel. Of the many topics Hermione had rambled on about was the topic of time lines. He remembered her explaining that after time turners had been invented in the 1600s, wizards believed the when traveling through time the only timeline possible was what Hermione referred to as a fixed timeline. Wizards were so convinced of this that other timeline theories only existed in the muggle world.

Harry smiled as he remembered how this discussion had taken place in the library right after the exams.

_ He had been sitting in an uncomfortable chair for hours and Hermione had been getting annoyed with him for not paying attention. To try to appease her he asked her what a fixed timeline what. Beaming she had responded._

_ "A fixed timeline means nothing can change when you go back in time. You know the classic muggle example of going back in time to kill your grandfather, and how this would create a paradox because you would prevent your own birth and thus never be able to go back in time? Well in a fixed timeline things would keep getting in your way to prevent you from killing your grandfather because since you would have already been born then no matter what you do, your grandfather will live long enough to create your father." Hermione explained, talking at full speed. Harry, to his own surprise, had been interested._

_ "Kind of like how I saw myself when I cast the patronus? The same events occurred both times we were in that time... if that makes sense," Harry pondered out loud. Hermione smiled widely. She was never happier than when she was engaged in an academic debate._

_ "Exactly. There was a set series of events."_

_ "So, how many different kinds of timelines are there?" Harry asked, propping his elbows up on the table they were sitting at._

_ "Well, as I said, wizards only believe in fixed timelines, but the whole grandfather paradox is called a dynamic timeline... meaning if you go back in time and change something, then when you go back into the future it will be different. And then there is what's called an alternate timeline, where if you go back in time it create an alternate universe, so if you end up killing your grandfather and end up not being born, nothing would happen to you because you're from a different universe," Hermione had told him._

_ "Huh... But if time turners are the only kind of time travel there is, than maybe the other kinds of time travel are still possible, but it hasn't been invented yet..." Harry mused, staring out the window absent mindedly._

_ "Harry," Hermione said, suddenly very serious._

_ "What is it?" Harry asked, thinking she was about to correct him. She looked him squarely in the eye before she continued._

_ "Never let anyone tell you that you aren't smart." Harry blushed slightly._

So he was in an alternate timeline... or a dynamic timeline. Somehow the thought made him extremely homesick. Even though if he ever returned to his own timeline he wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts for his seventh year, and would be faced with the task of finding horcruxes. Still, the thought that he would never see Ron or Hermione again made him feel sick to his stomach. He was essentially alone in a brand new world he had created by somehow going back in time. Tears slid down his face and he hugged his knees to his chest in a replica of his cupboard under the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Harry headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As there were traditionally no students at Hogwarts during the summer, only the teachers' table was set. Dumbledore, Dippet, Riddle, and the younger Horace Slughorn were already there.

"Good morning, Harry." Dumbledore smiled when he saw Harry.

"Morning sir," Harry replied as he sat down at the table. He proceeded to check the different jugs in order to find the orange juice.

"My dear boy, the headmaster was just telling me of your arrival. From the future? Quite strange. And you switched houses. You're quite the mystery young man." Slughorn waggled his finger cheerfully at Harry when the time traveler sat down across from him.

"Er, yes I suppose so. You teach potions, right?" Harry asked politely.

"That I do my boy, that I do. Are you interested in potion making?" Slughorn asked. Harry took a piece of toast and began buttering it while he answered.

"Yes, I mean I'm not very good, but its important to know a lot of different potions in the auror field and its pretty amazing what some potions can do."

"It certainly is amazing. And I'm certain you're better than you think you are. After a year in my class you'll be in top notch shape to be an auror," Slughorn told Harry, beaming.

"About that," Harry turned to address the headmaster who, along with Dumbledore and Riddle, had been listening in on Harry's conversation with the potions master, "I was wondering if it would be possible to go to Diagon Alley to get my school supplies."

"Ah yes, you need books and things, but you really shouldn't go to Diagon Alley alone with the war, perhaps we can mail order them..." As soon as Dippet paused Harry interjected.

"I actually need a new wand." At this Dumbledore's brow furrowed. He had seen the blackthorn wand in the hospital wing.

"What's wrong with the one you have?" Asked Dumbledore.

"There was a, er, mix up before I time traveled. This one isn't mine," Harry told the professors, taking out the wand Ron had given him as he did so.

"I have to get a few more books for my curriculum this afternoon, Mr. Potter can come with me and we can pick up his school supplies then." Riddle spoke for the first time. Although the tone and manner with which the future dark lord spoke was the picture of well refined manner, the look in his eyes unsettled Harry. It was almost predatory. Harry opened his mouth to object, but couldn't come up with a reason before Slughorn spoke.

"An excellent idea, who better to keep a student safe than the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." At Slughorn's endorsement, Harry looked at Dumbledore, hoping the man would disagree.

"I'll see about getting a booklist for you, Harry," Dumbledore said. Harry smiled forcefully.

"Thank you."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

As they had agreed at the end of breakfast, Harry met Riddle by the front doors at eleven. He tried to smile in greeting, but given Riddle's raised eyebrow in response, Harry was pretty sure he was unsuccessful.

"We'll walk outside the ground and then apparate from there. I trust you obtained your apparition license in the future?" the DADA professor asked, following Harry out the double doors. Harry hesitated. Technically he hadn't ever gone in to take the test. His 17th birthday and the subsequent time being on the run had not allowed for getting his license. However, Riddle's question seemed rhetorical, as he took Harry's silence as affirmation and continued speaking.

"Of course you will have to retake the test eventually, but for today I think we can both apparate and disregard technicalities." The future dark lord smiled charmingly at Harry, and Harry at once recognized the smile that cohered Slughorn into telling Riddle about Horcruxes, and the same on that had worked on so many witches and wizards. However, after the words had sunk in, a thought struck Harry.

"Does that mean I'll also have to retake my OWLs?" he asked. Riddle looked at Harry thoughtfully.

"I suppose so. The logical course of action would be to take the test at the same time as the rest of the fifth years, but you'll be busy with your NEWTs... Perhaps you can take them during winter break? I cannot speak for the other teachers, but I would be happy to help you review for DADA," Riddle told Harry, the charming smile reappearing.

"Thanks," Harry replied flatly. Spending even more time with Voldemort? Not going to happen.

"Out of curiousity, do you remember what your OWLs were the first time around, so we know where to begin?" Riddle asked. Harry frowned, thinking back. In the midst of everything else, academics had taken the back burner. He hadn't thought about grades or careers since before Dumbledore had died, and not seriously, since career counseling in fifth year.

"Exceeds Expectations in potions, transfiguration, care of magical creatures, charms, and herbology; Acceptable in astronomy; Poor in History of Magic; and Dreadful in Divination," Harry answered.

"Outstanding in Defense? I take it that class is why you want to be an auror?" Riddle prompted. It was a surreal experience fore Harry to be talking about his career choice with his parents murderer, but talking helped him forget that the young professor walking next to him would turn into one of the darkest wizards in history.

"Yes, it was always my best subject, and with everything else that went on during the school years, I could never imagine doing anything besides catching dark wizards," Harrry replied. They were approaching the castle gates where they would apparate to Diagon Alley.

"Everything else going on during your school years?" Riddle asked, glancing sideways at Harry.

"There were some problems with dark wizards getting into the school for a few years," Harry said after some hesitation. Seeing the suspicion forming on Riddle's face after his vague answer, Harry continued. "In my first year the DADA professor was possessed. He let a troll into the castle during Halloween. My friends and I, er, came across it and managed to knock it out," Harry told Riddle. That story was one of the more tame adventures he had had at Hogwarts. Still, it impressed Riddle.

"A troll, during your first year? I assume you and your friends got awards for that." At that, Harry was unable to suppress a snort, remembering McGonagall's reaction.

"If you consider five house points for sheer dumb luck an award, then yes," Harry said, chuckling slightly. Riddle was also grinning.

"I suppose if you were a Gryffindor the teachers felt the need to discourage the stupidity that so often accompanies bravery."

"Hey!" Harry was slightly offended. His intention that Halloween several years ago had only been to warn Hermione. He and Ron had thought the troll had been in the dungeons. In fact it was rather lucky they were there to help Hermione. Riddle smiled slightly at Harry's indignation. They had reached the gates that marked the end of the apparition wards.

"See you in a second," Riddle said before apparating. Harry followed suit. They appeared in the alleyway behind the Leaky Cauldron. Harry smiled as he caught sight of the bricks. Every time he saw them he was reminded of Hagrid bringing him to Diagon Alley back when Harry was eleven. Before all the deaths... before the triwizard tournament, before Sirius had even come into his life, let alone died.

Although, Harry supposed, it was also before all the best things had happened to him too. Before he had become best friends with Ron and Hermione, before he had become a part of the Weasley family, before everything, really. His life before Hogwarts had been filled with primary school and the Dursleys, both of which were quite unpleasant.

"Since I am already going to the bookstore I figured I might as well pick up your schoolbooks while you get everything else and then we can meet at Ollivanders," Riddle said, while tapping bricks. When they began to part, Riddle took out a small bag from his robes and handed it to Harry. Harry opened it to see it was filled with coins.

"What's this for?" At the question, Riddle raised an eyebrow.

"Since you are a time traveler you have been classified as a ward of Hogwarts for the time being. This is your scholarship money to purchase supplies.

"Oh," Harry said, feeling slightly dumb. He had a few galleons and a few muggle pounds in his moleskin pouch and had assumed he would have to budget those carefully in order to buy supplies. Harry then remembered the memory Dumbledore had shown him where Dumbledore had told an eleven year old Riddle how to get into Diagon Alley, and given him a similar bag of money. Harry was unnerved to feel the twinge of sympathy for Riddle he had felt while viewing the memories of the future dark lord's parentage.

"Thanks. I'll see you at Ollivanders then," Harry said quickly, and the two parted ways.

It took Harry a little over an hour to buy a trunk, pick up his potions supplies, and convince the woman at the second hand robe shop that he didn't need bright yellow dress robes thank you very much. When he finally dragged the trunk containing all his purchases to Ollivanders he saw that Riddle was already waiting for him, a stack of books obediently levitating by him. With a flick of the DADA professor's wand the top half of the books flew into Harry's trunk.

"Ready to get your wand?" Riddle asked. At Harry'd nod they both walked into the dimly lit shop filled with narrow boxes. It was rather comforting to see that this store had remained virtually unchanged for fifty years.

"Here for a new wand?" A voice asked. Harry started as Ollivander appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Er, yes, I am," Harry replied. He studied the wand maker as the man moved closer, his tape measurer following him. Ollivander had the same beady black eyes and stance. The only sign that it was not the 1990s was that the man's hair was a bit darker. He had changed even less than Professor Dumbledore.

"Name?" Asked Ollivander as the tape measurer flitted around Harry, getting the measurements of his arms, shoulders, and hands.

"Harry Potter." At this the wand maker tutted, and flicked his wand at the tape measurer, causing it to drop. Ollivander then disappeared behind the long rows of boxes.

"A bit old for your first wand," the man remarked as he produced a long dark colored wand.

"It's not my first wand," Harry replied, taking the wand and raising it to wave it, but it was snatched out of his hand before he got very far. Ollivander muttered to himself before handing Harry another wand. This too was taken away before he so much as moved his arm. Riddle stood in the corner looking amused.

"Does it always take this long?" Harry asked Riddle as Ollivander went to the back of the shop in search for something "a little less swishy." Riddle chuckled.

"You must be a special case. My wand was the third I tried," the young dark lord answered.

"I remember, thirteen and a half inches, yew and phoenix feather..." Ollivander had appeared again. "I wonder if..." The man trailed off before disappearing again. Harry and Riddle exchanged looks and a second later the wand maker was back. Harry recognized his old holly wand in Ollivander's hand.

"Try this," Ollivander told Harry. Harry took the wand and the familiar feeling of warmth spread through him. Green and gold sparks flew from the tip waved it.

"Interesting," Ollivander mused as the three of them watched the sparks dance around the ceiling. At Ollivander's comment Riddle looked intrigued. Harry for one already knew what the wandmaker would say when Riddle asked,

"What do you find interesting?"

"Interesting that the two of you should come here together and for Mr. Potter to purchase the brother wand of yours," Ollivander explained.

"Brother wands?" Riddle prompted.

"The two phoenix feathers in your wands are from the same phoenix, taken on the same day. These are the only two feather that phoenix has give. You are both destined for great things, I think, judging from the wands that chose you." At the man's words, Harry grimaced. He was reminded of when Ollivander had said almost the exact same thing to him all those years ago and how he had heard the story of how his parents died right after that.

"How much do I owe you?" Harry asked.

"Four galleons, seven sickles."

Harry quickly paid the man and picked up his new trunk again. Riddle followed him as he left the shop and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron.

"You don't seem at all curious," the DADA professor commented.

"Curious?" asked Harry, tapping the bricks that led to the alleyway the two of them would apparate from.

"About our wands," Riddle elaborated. The bricks opened and they walked through to the alleyway.

"Oh, well, seems that everyone's wand has to be connected somehow to another wand, our wands just happen to have owners who know each other," Harry said. It was just a coincidence. It had to be. Harry had already decided he was nothing like Voldemort in second year and he was not going to go down the path of worrying he would become a dark wizard again.

"Hmm," Riddle acknowledged before they both apparated back to the gates in front of the Hogwarts grounds. They began the trek back to the castle in silence.

"We must be very similar then, to have brother wands," Riddle finally said. Harry flinched.

"Maybe," he replied. _Not on your life_ was what he meant.


	3. Chapter 3

_Quick author's note (feel free to skip ahead to the actual story): First, I apologize in advance for the terrible rhyming in the sorting hat's song. I felt obligated to include it, but its really not very important and upon rereading I felt that it was on par with vogon poetry so you might want to save yourself the pain and only skim it. Second, in answer to the question where am I going with this, this story will deal with politics, corruption, and the ministry. I estimate it will end up being about 100,000 words, and will probably take a long time to get there. I enjoy reviews (hint hint) and I will answer any questions I can. _

In the remaining week or so before school started Harry spent his time in the library, avoiding Riddle, and having tea with Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore seemed delighted to have a student who wasn't intimidated by him. He explained the afternoon before school started that as fear of Grindelwald was rising and it was generally believed that Dumbledore was the only one who would be able to defeat the dark lord. Harry set his tea down and sat back thoughtfully.

"I sort of know what you mean. Last year- well, my last year- I found out that I was the only one who could defeat Lord Voldemort, and, well, even though the people didn't know it they kinda guessed cause of how the killing curse rebounded on me. Anyway, mostly people went back and forth thinking I was a dangerous nut job and a hero. I guess I had to learn not to care what people thought... and I guess where you're already a respected wizard people are less likely to think you're a nut job, but you still shouldn't let them dictate what you do," Harry rambled. He looked up to see Dumbledore smiling at him.

"What?" Harry asked, self-conscious.

"You're unusually wise for your age, Harry." Harry blushed and stammered out a question that he had wondered about since he had read Rita Skeeter's books.

"Is it true that you were in love with Grindelwald?" Dumbledore's face fell.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..." Harry stammered.

"It's alright Harry. I was in love with him, I suppose I still am, but it gave him too much power over me. So much power that he was able to sway my moral compass. I worry that if I face him again I will find out that he never loved me, and merely used me to gain power... and I worry that knowing that would destroy me." It was stated gravely, but Harry knew that any normal person would be sobbing their heart out when confronted with the array of emotions that the transfiguration teacher was facing. Harry thought of the vision he had recently had about Voldemort's interrogation with Grindelwald in Nurmengard.

"In my universe you defeated him even though he had the elder wand and he was imprisoned, and after you, erm, die, Voldemort goes to him to get information about the elder wand. He's killed by Voldemort cause he won't say anything about the wand. I sort of thought it was because he didn't want Voldemort to defile your grave... So even if he didn't love you, I don't think you were just a means to an end." Harry stared at his shoes as he spoke, wishing he could be more eloquent. When he looked up, Dumbledore had tears in his eyes. This made Harry profoundly uncomfortable. He was unsure if he should stay or go, and if he should go, what the proper thing to say would be.

"Thank-you Harry." Dumbledore said softly and sincerely. Harry took that as his cue to leave.

"Right. Thanks for the tea professor. I'll see you tomorrow."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

On September first, Harry found himself unable to concentrate on anything. He spent the morning in the library as he had every day since arriving, but was found that reading was entirely useless. He would forget the beginning of a sentence before he finished reading it. Sighing, Harry closed the book about time turners and re-shelved it. He looked thoughtfully at the other books in the section before he decided to go see if there was still a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages in this time. Not looking where he was going he ran into Riddle.

"Oh! S-sorry Professor, sir," Harry cursed himself for stuttering. It wasn't as if he was scared of the young Voldemort, but it was disconcerting to not have noticed him. Unfortunately Riddle noticed the stuttering.

"No harm done, Mr. Potter. Are you alright?" He asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said automatically, then added "Just nervous about school starting," which was true enough.

"Ah, I understand. It will be different to be in Slytherin this time around, won't it."

"Yeah, really different. Although I suppose it will be equally different to teach the Slytherins who were your peers last year," Harry replied, eager to get the topic of conversation off of himself. However, at Harry's comment, Riddle narrowed his eyes slightly.

"How did you know I was in Slytherin, or that I graduated last year?" At this question Harry felt his heart rate pick up.

"Just picked it up." He said, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

"In the future?" Asked Riddle.

"Perhaps." Harry continued to fail at nonchalance.

"Well I won't ask you about it, since you seem so uncomfortable, but just so you know you can always talk to me about whatever may be bothering you," Riddle told Harry. _Sure, when the pigs take to the sky, _Harry thought, but replied,

"Thanks, on the off chance this is a dynamic timeline rather than an alternate one I'd like the future to be as unchanged as possible, and I think talking about it may change it." Harry replied. Riddle immediately looked interested.

"You don't think this is a fixed timeline?" He asked. Harry cursed himself, he really needed to learn to be more cunning if he was going to survive in a house besides Gryffindor.

"Its not. I've already ruled that out." Harry told Riddle.

"Fascinating, after the time turner was invented wizards began believing that the only time travel possible was in fixed timelines. This must mean you used a different method of time travel. I suppose if you are ever going to get back a new way must be invented." Riddle said. Harry looked at him thoughtfully, Riddle noticed his expression.

"What is it?"

"You sounded just like one of my best friends when she was talking about time travel." Harry answered truthfully. Riddle smiled charmingly.

"She must be a brilliant witch," He said, making Harry laugh.

"She is."

"I assume she was in Gryffindor too?" Inquired Riddle.

"Yeah, I don't think Slytherin will have anyone like her." Harry replied sadly.

"I assure you Slytherin has many brilliant people." Riddle said, sounding slightly offended. Harry grinned.

"I'm sure it does, I was talking about the fact that she was muggleborn," Harry replied, curious as to the reaction this would receive. He watched Riddle's face carefully. It went entirely blank.

"No, there probably won't be any muggleborns..." Riddle trailed off. When Harry didn't say anything, he spoke again. "I am curious how you came to be sorted in Gryffindor the first time around."

"You don't think Gryffindor suits me?" Asked Harry.

"I'm sure you are very brave, but I think there is more cunning in you than bravery." Replied Riddle. Harry nodded.

"The sorting hat thought the same thing. It only put me in Gryffindor because I told it not Slytherin." This surprised the DADA teacher.

"The sorting hat listened to you? I didn't think the students had any say in the matter."

"My headmaster told me that it was the choices we make that decides who we are, if that's true, then surely the sorting hat would factor your choice into the sorting." Harry replied easily. Riddle smiled an odd smile. There were a few seconds of silence before Riddle asked,

"So what changed this time?"

"I'm not sure, the hat really didn't give me a chance to respond before it sorted me... but I guess I've always wondered what would have happened if I hadn't met Malf- I mean this boy in my year who was a bit of a prick before the sorting. I met him, he went on and on about how muggleborns shouldn't be allowed into Hogwarts, and tried to make me stop being friends with my other best friend." Harry explained, once again cursing his tendency to ramble.

"Surely your parents would have had a more profound influence on what house you would have chosen?" Riddle prompted.

"No, they died when I was a baby. I was raised in the muggle world." Harry was curious if this news would get a reaction. It did: sympathy.

"I'm sorry. My parents also died when I was young and I too was raised in the muggle world." Harry blinked, and his brain caught up with him. Once again, he was talking to his parents murderer.

"I er, I have to go meet Dumbledore. For tea." Harry told Riddle. The DADA professor looked faintly confused as Harry's response, but smiled politely.

"Well it was lovely talking to you, I'll see you at the feast tonight."

"Yeah, er, nice talking to you too. Bye." Harry swiftly left the library. It was a bit earlier than his usual tea time with Dumbledore, but Harry headed there anyway. The transfiguration professor's office was a floor below the library, and Harry went down the staircase as fast as he could before jogging down three corridors. He was knocking on Professor Dumbledore's door less than five minutes after he left Riddle.

"Come in," came Dumbledore's voice from within the office. Harry closed the door quickly behind him as if there was someone chasing him and plopped down on the well cushioned seat in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Something wrong, Harry?" the man asked, looking amused.

"Voldemort killed my parents." Dumbledore's expression grew slightly more serious, but his eyes continued to twinkle.

"Yes, you told me that already."

"I don't know if I can be around him all the time. I just- I don't think I can." Harry said, sitting back in the armchair and staring at his knees. He looked up to see Dumbledore looking at Harry with understanding.

"Harry, sooner or later you will have to decide whether or not you hold Tom Riddle responsible for Voldemort's actions."

"They're the same person, aren't they?" Harry asked.

"Each of us are on a path to becoming a certain person. Things in our lives influence whether we stay on the path or not, ultimately we decide where we go. However, we cannot see the future. Perhaps Tom Riddle does not see where the path he is on leads. Perhaps he can still choose to find a different path.

"After all that you have told me, Harry, I think of everyone in this time, you know Professor Riddle the best. Do you think he is the same person as your parents' murderer?" Harry was silent for a long time before he answered,

"I don't know."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry waited near the front doors until the students arrived in the carriages. As soon as the doors opened he slipped into the crowd heading to the Great Hall. IT was odd to not recognize anyone. When the students arrived at the Great Hall, Harry sat down at the end of the Slytherin table, looking longingly over at the Gryffindor table.

It was about five minutes after everyone was sitting down that someone realized there was a stranger at the Slytherin table. It was the boy sitting next to Harry.

"Hello, I don't believe I have seen you before." A young, expressive Lucius Malfoy look-a-like told him.

"No, you probably haven't." Harry replied. A flicker of irritation passed over the pale face.

"My name is Abraxas Malfoy," The blond tried again. Harry smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Malfoy."

"Call me Abraxas."

"Alright Abraxas." Harry smiled again and turned his attention back to the rest of the Great Hall.

"And what is your name?" Abraxas finally asked.

"Harry."

"Harry..." Abraxas trailed off, looking at Harry pointedly.

"Just Harry."

"I see, and your parents?"

"What about them?" Harry remembered the first conversation he had had with Draco Malfoy in Madam Malkins. He wondered if Abraxas would come out and ask if Harry's parents had been a witch and wizard just like Draco had.

"What are their names?" Abraxas asked after a moment's hesitation. Harry smirked. This Malfoy was clearly fishing for the same information Draco had, but had more tact than to come out and ask it.

"Their names were James and Lily."

"Were? I am sorry for your loss."

"Thanks." Harry watched to see if Abraxas would ask any other questions, he clearly wanted to, but Harry assumed he had been raised to be more subtle than just coming out and asking what he wanted to know. Finally Harry took pity and indulged the friendlier Malfoy's desire for conversation.

"What year are you?" Harry asked. The blond looked surprised at Harry's sudden cooperation.

"I am in seventh, what year are you in?"

"The same," replied Harry.

"Strange that I have not seen you in any of my classes before." Abraxas commented.

"Oh, not really strange at all," Harry responded dismissively. He watched as the first years walked in, shivering.

"Why is that?" Abraxas asked, ignoring the first years.

"I wasn't here before." Harry answered simply.

"Where were you schooled before?" Asked Abraxas just as Dumbledore came in holding the sorting hat in one hand and the three legged stool in the other. The transfiguration professor smiled at Harry as he walked past.

"Hogwarts," Harry replied, returning Dumbledore's smile.

"But you just said you weren't here before." Abraxas stated.

"I wasn't."

"But this is Hogwarts." It was hard not to laugh at this observation, but Harry managed by watching Dumbledore place the sorting hat on the stool.

"So it is," Harry acknowledged.

"And before this year you went to Hogwarts." Abraxas said even though everyone else had gone quiet and was waiting for the sorting hat to begin singing.

"I did," confirmed Harry.

"But not here." Abraxas whispered

"Precisely." Harry smiled at Abraxas just as the sorting hat started its slightly off-key song.

_It's been a long and happy history_

_In this castle full of mystery_

_Here we've taught since time began_

_And here we'll teach for years on end_

_Four houses proud make up the school_

_Hufflepuff is home of the loyal_

_Friendships here will never foil_

_Ravenclaws value most their minds_

_They'll solve puzzles of all kinds_

_The brave at heart are Gryffindor_

_They stand their ground forevermore_

_Slytherin is all kinds of subtle_

_They're cunning, careful through every muddle_

_To which of these will you go?_

_That depends on the traits you show_

_The things you value most in you_

_Reveal a thing or two_

_About who you are beneath your skin_

_Regardless of who may be your kin. _

_So put me on! Let me sort you_

_Let me help each of you show_

_The traits in you beginning to grow._

_But no matter to which house you go_

_Remember the others are not your foe_

_Each house is different, true_

_But each may fit in another house or two_

_The house you are is not who you are_

_You are who you choose_

_So choose carefully, or this war we'll loose_

Harry smiled at the hats final words. _You are who you choose_. He looked up to see Riddle looking at him. It unnerved Harry, and he quickly turned his gaze to the first years about to be sorted. Dumbledore took a scroll of parchment from his pocket and began reading names. When the first student was sorted into Gryffindor Harry raised his hands to clp, and then abruptly realized he was now a Slytherin. Before long the last first year had been sorted. The headmaster stood up.

"I have a couple of announcements. The first is that we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Pleas welcome Professor Riddle." There was a round of applause and then Dippet spoke again.

"The second announcement is that we have a new student joining us for his seventh year. Harry Potter, please stand up." Headmaster Dippet looked around for Harry before he continued. "Mr. Potter has been sorted into Slytherin. He arrived here under unusual circumstances. Mr. Potter is from the future and I must ask you all not to ask him too many questions about the future for the sake of the timeline. Thank you."

After the headmaster sat down there was a flurry of conversation. Harry sat down, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance as everyone craned their heads to get a good look at him. Would he ever be rid of people staring at him?

When the food appeared Harry took advantage of the stupor everyone around him seemed to be in to get the first serving of everything. Abraxas was the first to recover his wits.

"I see, you attended Hogwarts in the future and that is why I haven't seen you," the grandfather of Harry's school rival stated politely. Harry chuckled.

"Yeah."

"So tell us, what is the future like?" Asked another boy who was sitting across from Harry and Abraxas. He had an air of elegance that Harry would never be able to achieve.

"Pretty much the same," Harry replied as he dug into his mashed potatoes.

"There must be some difference," Abraxas said. Harry looked around thoughtfully. There were the same four house tables, the same enchanted night-sky ceiling, the same floating candles, same uniforms, and so on.

"I guess the hair styles are a bit different," Harry remarked. Both Abraxas and the boy across from them laughed.

"My name is Orion Black. I'm in seventh year too," The boy across the table introduced himself. Harry felt a pang when he realized this was Sirius' father.

"Harry Potter. It's nice to meet you," Harry told him sincerely. Abraxas snorted

"So you tell him your full name, but not me." The blond was looking mildly disgruntled. It made the resemblance to Draco Malfoy uncanny.

"The headmaster announced my name, everyone already knew. Besides I was kind of curious how long you would go before asking me straight out." Harry told Abraxas. The blond grinned and the similarities to Draco and Lucius grew less pronounced. _This is bizarre_, Harry thought,_ I didn't know a friendly Malfoy was possible_.

"How far in the future are you from?" Someone else asked him.

"Several decades," Harry answered, and became evasive when they tried to get an exact number from him. A couple second years asked him if they had become famous, some of the older students tried to talk politics with him, but Harry grew less patient the more questions were asked so eventually they stopped trying.

"What do you plan to do after Hogwarts?" Harry asked Orion, genuinely curious. He had never known what Sirius' father had done.

"Oh I'm the heir to the black family, I'll end up in the Wizagamot, but my father wants me to become an apprentice to a lawyer," Orion replied as the plates and bowls cleaned themselves and desserts appeared.

"I'll end up in the Wizagamot too, but I'll work in the policy making office." Abraxas told Harry. "What about you?"

"I want to be an auror." At this, both Orion and Abraxas, as well as the others listening in on their conversation, looked surprised. "What?" Harry asked as took a treacle tart.

"Not many Slytherins go into that field," Orion explained.

"Why not?" Asked Harry.

"Well, to get into the program you need an auror to agree to be your mentor, and not many aurors would agree to mentor a Slytherin," Abraxas said matter-of-factly. Harry was still confused.

"Why wouldn't they mentor someone just because they're Slytherin?"

"Because they think that all Slytherins are evil and that a Slytherin auror would be a corrupt auror," Orion replied.

"Oh." Harry replied. He hoped that this would not matter. If he was back in his time then surely he would have no trouble finding an auror mentor.

Several minutes later everyone had finished eating and the headmaster stood up again to tell everyone to go to bed. Harry stood up and mindlessly followed the crowd to the dungeons. He paid no attention to the stares he was getting, after all he had been stared at his entire time at Hogwarts.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: To answer the question of whether this will be Tom/Harry: I think so. I'v almost made up my mind that it will be, but I need to write a few more scenes to be entirely sure. Nothing much will happen until after Hogwarts though. Anyway, please read and please review. Thanks!_

Harry had headed down to breakfast by himself, having woken up early and gotten ready by himself. However, he looked up after serving himself some sausages to find that Abraxas had sat down next to him. Harry nodded in greeting before returning to his breakfast.

He hadn't really talked to his roommates last night after the feast. Abraxas and Orion weren't bad but Jeremy Goyle and Liam Lestrange seemed a little too much like their death eater sons. They seemed content to ignore Harry as much as he was to ignore them.

"Of course Harry Potter can't be your real name..." Abraxas trailed off out of nowhere. Harry snorted.

"Really, why's that?"

"As a time traveler you can't change the timeline... So obviously you can't reveal who you really are in case someone from this time meets you in the future," Abraxas told him.

"Seems a bit pointless since people would be able to recognize me by how I look," Harry countered. It was odd, Abraxas had the same arrogance as his grandson had, but Abraxas was infinitely more pleasant to talk to, or maybe Harry had just gotten more tolerant of arrogance.

"Not necessary, pureblood families always look similar and you're obviously a pureblood with you aristocratic features. Judging from your pale skin and dark hair I'd say you're either a Nott, or a Black, or a Parkins- No, that it, you're a Black."

Harry had unintentionally twitched at the mention of his godfather's name. Oh well, Harry thought, might as well let Abraxas have his fun.

"Alright Malfoy, what else can you discern from each minuscule detail?" Harry asked. Abraxas grinned, thrilled that Harry was willing to play along.

"Well there are obviously some clues in you alias as well. Harry Potter... What's your middle name?" He asked.

"James," replied Harry honestly. He set raised an eyebrow as Abraxas analyzed this new information.

"Harry James Potter. Huh, James is common enough.. that might even be your real middle name. Potter must have some significant so that you'd remember it... Probably your mother's maiden name... I'd also wager that Harry is similar to your real given name, so that you'd react to it... And the Blacks are almost always named after stars or constellations. Haldus? Hydra? Haedus? Haedus James Black. That's your name." Abraxas stated with confidence. Harry chuckled.

"I suppose you can call me that if you like," he said, smiling. Abraxas looked pleased.

"I will, Haedus." Harry grinned at his new name. Weird, but as far as names he had been called by the future Malfoys, this was positively affectionate.

"Did you ever consider that I was born after everyone in this time is already dead and so there really is no point in changing my name?" Harry asked.

"Don't be ridiculous Haedus." Abraxas told him. At that moment, Slughorn came around to give them their schedules. Before Harry could so much as glance at his, Abraxas took it and laid it down flat next to his.

"Looks like we have Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and DADA together... urg, why are you taking Magical Creatures?" Asked Abraxas.

"Its interesting," Harry said indignantly, "Why are you taking," Harry took a look at Abraxas' schedule, "Arithmacy? Sounds boring."

"Its useful." Abraxas sniffed disdainfully at the rest of Harry's schedule. "You're continuing Herbology too... how uncouth." Harry just rolled his eyes and snatched his schedule before Abraxas could stop him and stood up.

"Well I'm off to my uncouth classes, I'll see you later," Harry told the blond boy. He took one last bite of toast and then left for herbology.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

In a way, being in classes made him feel at home, like he was in the right time, and that there were no horcruxes to worry about. However, the absence of Ron and Hermione as well as the different teachers brought him back to reality.

Since many students had dropped Herbology, there was just one class for all seventh years. The class was made up of mostly Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, with a few Gryffindors. Harry was the only Slytherin. Harry was partnered with a Hufflepuff named Daniel Brown, who spent most of the period excitedly asking him about the future while everyone around them listened in. After explaining several times that he hadn't really paid enough attention in history to know the exact date of anything, Harry headed to transfiguration.

In Professor Dumbledore's class, all the Slytherins sat at the back. Harry, having almost always sat in the second row, walked right past his fellow snakes intent on sitting in what had been his usual spot. As he walked past Abraxas, however, he was unexpectedly yanked back.

"What do you-" Harry began to ask, but Orion, who was sitting next to Abraxas, interrupted him.

"Everyone knows that old coot hates Slytherins, if we sit up front you'll be more likely to cause trouble." At Orion's whispered warning, Harry snorted.

"If you say so."

It was odd, having Dumbledore for a teacher. In some ways the class was exactly the same as McGonagall would teach it in fifty years. The chalk would write out instructions on the chalkboard as Dumbledore lectured, just as it had when McGonagall taught. However, the handwriting was much more intricate and when there were no instructions to write the chalk tended to draw intricate designs around what it had already written.

When it came time for everyone to try their hand at turning vases into hawks, Harry laughed when Orion's vase sprouted wings and took flight. Dumbledore happened to walk past them just then Orion took turns glaring at Harry and Dumbledore, who took the opportunity to comment on Orion's attempt.

"An interesting interpretation of a hawk, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. This made Harry chuckle again.

"Well Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, how are you faring?" Dumbledore asked, turning to Abraxas and Harry. Both raised their wands and said the incantation. Abraxas' vase sprouted several very elegant feathers, but remained vase shaped. Harry's on the other hand, turned into a very impressive hawk, but remained glass. It did however, began to move. After emitting a very high pitched shriek it launched itself at Abraxas' feathered vase.

The shriek had made everyone wince and turn to look. Harry recovered quickly and tried to change the hawk back. He succeeded in turning Abraxas' vase back to its original form, but the glass hawk dodged and leap into the air where it tried to dive-bomb Orion. Both Orion and Abraxas leap under the desks. The hawk let out another shill war cry and flew higher up to try again. Harry leap onto his desk and managed to catch the transformed vase before it could attack anything else.

"Do you need any help, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked, chuckling. Harry held to squirming glass creature as best he could while avoiding the beak and claws. He grinned at Dumbledore

"Yes please." With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore turned the hawk back into a vase. Everyone around Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Harry climbed down from the desk and set the vase down gingerly.

"Thanks sir," Harry said, relieved.

"You're quite welcome. Maybe a little less swish next time," the transfiguration professor replied, beaming.

The class went on after that with a little less chaos. After observing the class, Harry supposed he could see why Abraxas and Orion seemed to think Dumbledore hated Slytherins, although he privately disagreed. When students had made mistakes or weren't paying attention in McGonagall's class, the stern teacher had warned them with detention or house points. When students made mistakes in Dumbledore's class on the other hand, Dumbledore was more likely to tease them. This worked well on most other students, who were ables to recognize the twinkle in the professor's eyes, but the Slytherins tended to interpret Dumbledore's gentle teasing as dislike. Ridiculous.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Defense Against the Dark Arts was in the afternoon, three days a week for the seventh year Slytherins. Although Harry would have been perfectly content to sit in the back for this class, Abraxas and Orion dragged Harry to the front. Typical Slytherins, Harry mused, although he supposed that included him now. Perish the thought.

This class was much more crowded than either Herbology of Transfiguration. Herbology had had maybe had a dozen or so students, most of them Hufflepuffs, and Transfiguration had been made up of about four students from each house. DADA however, seemed to have all almost all of the seventh years. There were over thirty people there. The only class Harry had that had been this big was apparition, which seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Good afternoon everyone," Riddle said, coming in behind the last few students. All he students fell silent.

"As this is the last year you will have before you head out into the world, we will cover many different topics. Some of these may be review, but it is my job to make sure you are all prepared to survive the war so I trust you will all bear with me." As Riddle began his lecture Harry was impressed despite himself. Having had six different defense instructors and having been the equivalent of one himself, he was able to recognize the logic behind the topics Riddle announced they would be covering- Harry had taught most of them in DADA. Unforgivables, shields, and patronuses all featured in the first five weeks. After about fifteen minutes Riddle ended the lecture, saying,

"But I don't want to bore you too long just talking about what we will study. Why don't we jump right in with the three unforgivable curses. You all know what they are, yes?" He asked. There was a murmur of agreement. Satisfied, Riddle continued.

"The killing curse, the cruciartus curse, and the imperius curse. All three of these will get you arrested if you use them, but I cannot guarantee they will not be cast at you when you leave Hogwarts. This being the case, I have been given special permission to cast one of these curses. The only thing you can do against the killing curse and the cruciartus curse is to avoid getting hit, but the imperius curse is a little different. I would, of course, recommend not getting hit by it, but if one is hit with the imperious curse it is possible to break it. It will often take a long time, and a strong will, but it is possible to become resistant to this one unforgivable curse."

Most of the students were leaning forward in their seats. Harry for one was wondering if Voldemort had given Barty Crouch Jr. his lesson notes before Crouch went undercover as Moody, but then remembered that Voldemort hadn't been the DADA professor in his timeline.

"Mr. Potter," Riddle addressed Harry, who jumped. Riddle smiled a charming smile. "Would you please come up here?" Harry cursed under his breath, but complied.

"Thank you, I am going to cast the imperius curse on Mr. Potter," Riddle stated, there were several shocked faces. "Pay attention to what the curse does." The defense professor turned to Harry and whispered, "Imperio."

Although the end of his fourth year had been an unmitigated disaster, and although he had been a deatheater in disguise, Harry was immeasurably grateful that the fake Moody had already taught Harry to resist the imperius curse, and that Harry would never be susceptible to being controlled by Voldemort. The feeling of susceptibility only lasted an instant before Harry regained control. When Riddle said,

"Jump," Harry stubbornly crossed his arms and simply stood. A few murmurs broke out among the students. Riddle's eyes widened before the man composed himself.

"Very impressive Mr. Potter," Riddle paused and looked at Harry, his eyes filled with curiosity. Harry took that as his cue to go and sit back down.

"That is what resisting the curse looks like. I dare say the rest of you will find that it is not as easy as it looks. Now, Mr. Malfoy, please come up," Riddle requested. As a pale Abraxas walked up to the front of the classroom Harry whispered to Orion,

"We're sitting in the back next time."

The rest of the class passed with student after student getting the imperius curse cast on him or her. Both Orion and Abraxas were shaken after their turns. They kept glancing at Harry and then turning away when they made eye contact. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Everyone who was not able to resist the imperius curse," everyone glanced at Harry, the only one who had resisted, "please write a foot on what measures you could take to be able to throw off the curse. I'll see you all Wednesday," Riddle told the class. Everyone began packing up. Harry was halfway out the door when he heard Riddle say,

"A moment please, Mr. Potter."

"See you in Charms, Haedus," Abraxas smirked at Harry as he passed him. Harry snorted. Orion waved absent-mindedly. Harry could tell they were both still unnerved from having the imperius curse cast on them. After the last person had left Harry turned to look at Riddle, who was still staring after Abraxas and Orion, a small frown on his face.

"Haedus?" the defense professor asked, coming from behind his desk.

"Oh," Harry ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed, "It's just Abraxas being silly. He thought that since I'm a time traveler that I must be using an alias, so he decided to try to deduce my real name," Harry explained. Riddle smiled.

"And he decided your name must be Haedus Potter?" The future dark lord asked.

"Haedus Black, actually," Harry corrected.

"Ah, of course. The Blacks are the ones who are named after constellations. Tell me, was Abraxas right, did you use an alias?" asked Riddle. Harry snorted derisively.

"Yeah right. I was in no state of mind to come up with a cunning plan after I realized I had jumped half a century into the past. The only thing I was warned about with time travel was running into my past self and that's not really an issue here. Hermione said nothing about having to come up with an alias or a different backstory, so I wasn't really prepared to lie this time," Harry explained. Riddle was looking at Harry with his head cocked to one side.

"This time? You've time traveled before?" The man asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered, "There was this thing in third year with a Hippogriff that Hermione and I used a time-turner to fix." Riddle looked intrigued.

Harry had undergone many crazy adventures, but this was perhaps the most surreal- turning up in 1945, talking to Tom Riddle, his DADA teacher, as if he wasn't the mass murderer that had tried to kill Harry several times. If he were to ever hallucinate, Harry mused, he would not notice the slightest difference in his crazy life.

"You seem to have had quite the adventures during school. You'll have to tell me more about the hippogriff incident sometime when you don't have a class to get to. I asked you to stay behind because I was wondering if you wanted to schedule a weekly meeting to go over material for your OWLs. I talked with Headmaster Dippet and he has arranged for you to take your tests over winter break."

"Uh, sure. Thanks," Harry said. He would need all the help he could get without Hermione here.

"How about Friday evenings?" Riddle suggested.

"Alright," Harry agreed.

"Do you know what subjects you want to take your OWLs in? You need at least eight." Harry considered this. He was only taking six classes right now.

"Definitely DADA, transfiguration, charms, potions, herbology, and magical creature..." Harry trailed off. He thought back to his taking his divination, astronomy, and history tests. History had been the least painful. The other two were things he could do without. "History of magic and maybe muggle studies?" Harry was partly asking himself and partly asking Riddle.

"Muggle Studies?" the defense teacher all but spat. his expression was one of disgust. Harry narrowed his eyes, deciding then and there he was going to take the muggle studies OWL. Riddle noted his expression and amended, "I mean you grew up with muggles, didn't you? Studying it would be pointless."

"Well, I grew up in the future, and between now and then there will be lots of developments. I'm not sure I know much about the 1945 muggle world," Harry replied. It was a good point, but mostly Harry didn't want to have to retake divination or astronomy.

"Ah, of course, I had not considered that the muggle world would change so much," Riddle replied, all traces of disgust gone. Harry nodded. The muggle world probably had been pretty awful in an orphanage right after World War I Harry supposed.

"Well, I better get to charms," Harry said, smiling politely at Riddle. The professor smiled back and returned to his desk.

"See you Wednesday."

Charms was an exercise in boredom. It was almost as boring as history of magic had always been. The only thing that made it more interesting was the fifteen or so minutes they had to practice the time acceleration charm the teacher had talked about. Watching a plant's entire life from seed to plant in three minutes was rather cool.

At dinner that night Harry resigned himself to sitting next to Abraxas and Orion despite his preference for solitude. It was decidedly nice of them to try so hard to talk to him and so Harry did his best not to brood about finding a way back to his own time. The subject inevitably turned to the imperius curse and defense against the dark arts. Orion was the one who finally asked Harry what all the seventh years who were listening to Harry talk with Abraxas and Orion were hoping someone else would ask.

"So how did you do it?"

"I had a different DADA teacher who cast it on me over and over until I could break it," Harry replied honestly. There was a moment of silence at that part of the table. A rather gawky girl with dark stringy hair was the speak.

"But what did you do while you were under the curse?" She asked. Harry looked at her. She looked a little familiar. It was clear from how far away everyone else was sitting from her that none of the seventh year Slytherins were friends with her. Feeling a little sorry for her, Harry explained a little more in depthly than he would have had any of the other Slytherins asked him.

"Well, when I had the curse cast on me the first time it was like nothing mattered, I was completely relaxed," at this several of the other Slytherins nodded, clearly having experienced the same thing, "and then I heard my professor's voice telling me to jump on the desk. I was all set to do it, but then it was like another part of me was saying that jumping was a rather stupid thing to do. That first time I tried to jump and not jump at the same time. After I had the curse cast on me a few times I got better at listening to that other feeling. I think the key is being able to ask yourself why you are doing something while you're under the curse," Harry finally finished explaining. Several of the other Slytherins were looking thoughtful. The girl with stringy hair smiled in thanks and then went back to pushing the food on her plate around.

Harry glanced at Orion. He was scowling at his fork. Abraxas looked serene, but didn't look at anyone else for the rest of dinner. The whole table was rather subdued for the rest of dinner.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note (as always, feel free to skip): I know I may be a bit off on things, but its been a few years since I read the series so I hope you guys can forgive a few inaccuracies. Krysania: I had no idea Headus was a bit of an insult (though that may be fun to bring up later in the story). Haedus is a star though... Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the new chapter and as always I appreciate reviews._

The next day Harry amiably waited for Abraxas and Orion to go down to breakfast. Harry got the sense that before he had arrived, the dorm room had been divided in two. On one side was Lestrange and Goyle and on the other was Abraxas and Orion. Although the former two would nod in greeting to Harry they ignored Abraxas and Orion entirely. On the way to breakfast, Harry asked the two Slytherins about it. They exchanged glances.

"Haedus," Orion began in grave tone. Harry interrupted him.

"Don't tell me you're calling me that too." The serious expression melted away from Orion's face.

"Abraxas had a point. Besides, if your name really is Haedus Black, that would mean we're related, and as your relative I should be free to use your real name instead of your alias," Orion replied, giving Harry a smirk. Harry rolled his eyes.

"That makes no sense," Harry said, but Orion waved a dismissive hand.

"Not the point. As I was saying," Orion continued, "Haedus, what do you think of the war?" At the question Harry frowned. He was used to the word 'war' referring to Voldemort, whether the time around when he was born or the one he had been living in before switching timelines.

"You mean the one with Grindlewald?" Harry asked.

"What other war would he mean?" Abraxas asked, but both he and Orion were clearly still waiting for an answer to the first question. Although he was now a Slytherin, Harry felt he would always be a Gryffindor at heart, so he answered the question bluntly without worrying how it would change the way Abraxas and Orion treated him.

"I think it's wrong. Grindlewald is wrong." At Harry's statement, his two companions looked relieved. Harry was surprised. Slytherins were all for blood purity and dark magic.

The three of them reached the Great Hall and sat down. Abraxas and Orion were looking around as though they were scared someone was listening in. Harry let them scan the surroundings to their hearts content while he poured himself a cup of tea. By the time he had added milk the other two were obviously appeased that there was no one eavesdropping.

"We think it's wrong too. I mean come on, a German ruling the European wizarding world? That's just insanity," Orion whispered. Harry rolled his eyes. Of course, they weren't objecting to the bigotry against muggles and muggleborns, they just objected to the fact that Britain wasn't holding the reins.

"What about the innocent people being slaughtered?" Harry asked testily. Abraxas blinked.

"Well that's another reason why Grindlewald is all wrong. The fact that he can't change anything without all this bloodshed does not bod well," Abraxas stated. Harry shook his head.

"But you agree with the general ideology." Once again, Abraxas and Orion glanced at each other.

"Well, yeah," Orion said.

"What Orion means is separating the muggle world and the wizarding world is best for both parties." Abraxas' reply was, per usual, much more elegant.

"Not for muggleborns," Harry insisted stubbornly. Abraxas rolled his eyes.

"And most muggleborns are barely a step above squibs, magically speaking. They'd be better off in the muggle world where they aren't faced with power they cannot hope to compete with." At this Harry glowered.

"My best friend is a muggleborn, and she is the cleverest witch I have ever met." Harry told the two Slytherins. Orion snorted.

"She? That explains it. Someone must have a crush. Don't worry, once you get over it you'll see the truth." Without another word Harry stood up and grabbed his bag. Idiots, the two of them.

"Oi, where are you going?" Orion shouted after him. Harry just shook his head. How had the sorting hat ever thought he would do well in Slytherin? Harry glared at the sconces lining the walls on his was back to the dungeons. He could never fit in with such small minded, bigoted, judgmental... and then Harry remembered why exactly he had asked not to go into Slytherin. He had met exactly two people. Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy, and judged all of Slytherin off of what Ron had told him and how Malfoy had acted. If assuming every Slytherin was like Malfoy wasn't small minded then Harry didn't know what was. Still, Harry reasoned as he arrived at the potions classroom, Abraxas and Orion were being idiots.

The classroom door was open and there was only one person in there. It was the girl who had asked him what he did while under the imperius curse. She was sitting in the second row with her potions textbook open, but not reading.

"Er, hello," Harry said. The girl started and gave him a strained smile in return. Harry ventured further into the classroom. "My name's Harry Potter, I didn't catch your name last night."

"Eileen Prince," She replied. Harry had to struggle not to gape at her. This was Snape's mother. He cocked his head to the side, trying to see the resemblance. Her hair was the same color, but it was clean enough, even if it looked as though it hadn't been brushed for a while. Her eyes were the same glittering black, but they were wide and uncertain whereas Snape's had just been hard and unfriendly.

"Do you mind if I sit next to you?" Harry asked. Each row had four tables, and each table sat two people. In the middle of each table was a cauldron. If Harry sat next to Eileen he wouldn't have to work with Abraxas and Orion. Eileen's already wide eyes grew wider.

"Why would you want to sit next to me?" She asked. Harry, figuring that wasn't a no, set his bag down and took a seat.

"Why not?" He asked in return. "I have to warn you though, I have no talent whatsoever when it comes to potions," Harry told Eileen. For the first time, the serious expression on her face melted into a smile.

"That's okay, I'm pretty good at potions," she said quietly. Harry returned her smile.

"Perfect, I'm glad one of us will know what to do," Harry replied. A couple of other students came into the classroom. More students trickled in. Abraxas and Orion glanced at him, but sat on the other side of the classroom without speaking. The class didn't have long to wait before Slughorn came sauntering in.

"Welcome everyone, to your last year in this class. I hope you're all prepared to work hard," Slughorn began speaking. Harry took out quill, ink and parchment to take notes as the potions professor continued, "This year we'll have several potions that will take more than one week to finish, so to make things simpler the person you are sitting next to will be your partner for the rest of the year. Now for the potions we'll be working on,"

They started with a blood thinning potion. It turned out to be quite involved. Harry was about to add the diced salamander eyes he had just chopped, but Eileen stopped him just in time and pointed out the instructions said to only add half and save the rest until after everything else had been added. She smiled and blushed when Harry thanked her.

About halfway through the class they put their cauldrons on the shelves in the back to mature for a few days and brewed a simple pepper up potion with the rest of the time. As Eileen and Harry brought up their vial, Slughorn smiled up at Harry from behind his desk.

"Harry m'boy, how is the first week going?" The portly man asked. Harry smiled politely.

"Pretty well sir," Harry answered, handing Slughorn the vial of pepper up potion. Slughorn held it up and inspected the liquid.

"Perfect coloring, well done. I see you and Eileen are partners? That should work out well," Slughorn said. Harry nodded and smiled as more students came up to hand in samples of their potions.

As they left the potions classroom Harry fell into step beside Eileen. She looked up at him, startled. Harry simply smiled at her kindly.

"So what do you like to do, besides potions?" he asked.

"I don't know, r-reading perhaps," Eileen answered.

"Cool, what kind of books?" At Harry's question a wry smile appeared on Eileen's pale face.

"Potions books," she replied shortly. Harry laughed.

"So you must want to do something with potions after Hogwarts," Harry said. Eileen glanced at Harry uncertainly. Then she replied carefully,

"Maybe, I'm not sure what though. My parents don't really want me to work." Eileen told Harry. Harry blinked, surprised.

"What else would you do?" he asked. Eileen stopped and looked at Harry as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Harry stopped to, bewildered at her reaction. Eileen looked at him for several seconds as if to make sure Harry was not kidding before she answered.

"Everyone knows respectable pureblood women don't work. They get married and have children." They continued walking towards the great hall again.

"Oh," Harry said simply. He had some notion of this, after all in muggle history it had been practically unheard of for women to work before the eighteenth century. Harry wondered if the pureblood women were still like that in his timeline. He and Hermione used to have endless discussions about how slowly wizarding culture changed compared to muggle culture, so Harry reckoned it was probably the same in the future. Harry glanced at Eileen. Her expression was neutral and she was looking at the floor as she walked.

"Is that what you want? To get married and have kids?" he asked. Eileen looked surprised again.

"I..." She paused, as if unsure of what to say, "I don't not want it, but I'd like to do more than just be a wife and mother... But it doesn't really matter either way. My family will find a pureblood for me to marry, probably someone desperate enough to have to rely on relatives to find someone willing to spend time with him, and I'll be married in a few years," Eileen explained a little bitterly. She looked at Harry again, eyebrows raised, "How do you not know this? Everybody knows this stuff." Harry grinned self consciously.

"Keep a secret?" he asked. She nodded slowly. "I'm a halfblood, raised in the muggle world." Harry wasn't particularly worried about this getting out, he really couldn't care less what all the other Slytherins thought of him. He was mostly curious about Eileen's reaction. Her eyebrows rose.

"Oh, that's interesting. I've never met anyone from the muggle world." She studied him as if she was seeing him for the first time. Suddenly she frowned, "But how could you get to your seventh year without picking up on these kinds of things?" Eileen asked.

"Keep another secret? I was in Gryffindor before." Harry said, smiling secretively. Eileen looked startled, but then laughed.

"You're weird."

"Tell me about it," Harry replied, laughing too.

Harry sat with Eileen at lunch. Eileen filled Harry in on some more "common knowledge" regarding magical culture. Abraxas and Orion sat a few feet away, looking at him strangely. Harry ignored them.

"So its not respectable for pureblood men to work lower wage jobs? How do they get higher paying jobs then?" Harry asked.

"Their family. Usually they'll have an uncle or cousin or something in the field who will pull a few strings," Eileen replied. "Or they'll find other connections to get a job," she added. Harry frowned.

"You mean like Slughorn's parties?" He asked.

"Exactly, that's why so many politicians and other successful wizards bother with Professor Slughorn. They found contacts at his parties which helped them when they were starting out so they come back to help other students," Eileen explained. Harry wrinkled his nose in distaste. Eileen smiled at his expression.

"I guarantee you'll have lots of offers for jobs. The illustrious time traveler... Slughorn will want to show you off at his next party."

"Ugh, I've had enough of that for a lifetime" Harry said. Eileen tilted her head to one side, curious.

"What do you mean?"

"I was kind of famous back in my time. This whole thing was a dark wizard and my parents, I don't really remember it." Harry said vaguely. Eileen nodded and dropped the subject. They sat in silence for a few seconds before Harry spoke again.

"Besides, I want to be an auror and Abraxas and Orion said that Slytherins don't really go into that field so I'm not sure if Slughorn will know anyone in the Auror department," Harry said. He pushed around the peas on his plate.

"It wouldn't hurt to let Professor Slughorn introduce you to a few people, just in case," Eileen mused, "Since you don't have any family in this time."

"Yeah I suppose. You'll have to come with me though, I can't stand that kind of thing. And we can tell Slughorn you're looking into a career in potions. He's bound to know lots of people in that field," Harry replied. Eileen suddenly looked shy again.

"I don't know, I mean what if he doesn't think I should work either..." She trailed off.

"He probably assumes you don't want to work. But I think as far as pure blood Slytherins go, Slughorn is pretty open minded. I remember my friend Hermione, she's muggleborn, and he invited her to those parties same as me." Harry said.

"I suppose..." Eileen replied, still looking doubtful.

"It can't hurt to ask." Harry told her.

At the end of lunch Harry and Eileen parted way. Harry headed to Care of Magical Creatures while Eileen headed to Ancient Runes. As Harry reached the double doors leading outside, Orion caught up with him.

"Hey, sorry about breakfast," Orion said. Harry narrowed his eyes at the Slytherin. Orion responded by sheepishly brushing his slightly too long hair out of his eyes.

"Thanks," Harry replied flatly. He opened the double doors and walked outside, not looking at Orion. Orion jogged to catch up with Harry's fast pace.

"Come on Haedus, what's the problem? I apologized."

"The problem," Harry said, still not looking at Orion, "is that you're being discriminatory. You're assuming people are inferior to you just because of the family they were born into, something they have no control over. You bully people just because they're different than you." Although Harry did not raise his voice he was pretty sure there was no mistaking how upset he was from his tone. Orion had a strange expression on his face.

"You sound almost like you're muggleborn."

"What if I am?" Harry asked, finally turning to look at Orion.

"Are you?" Orion eyes scanned Harry's face as if he would be able to deduce the answer from Harry's features. They both stopped walking. Harry crossed his arms.

"What if I am?" Harry repeated. He may be a halfblood, but he felt entitled to claim muggleborn status, seeing how he had known nothing of the wizarding world before he turned eleven.

"I dunno..." Orion trailed off. Harry rolled his eyes and continued walking toward Care of Magical Creatures. Orion followed him.

"Seriously, are you a muggleborn?" Orion asked again as they reached the small crowd at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry just ignored him.

The professor for Care of Magical Creatures was a hyper, enthusiastic man who had to stand on a stool in order to see all the students. Looking around, Harry saw that he and Orion were the only Slytherins. Behind the professor there was a pen filled with several creatures that looked like furry, long-legged piglets.

"Welcome everyone today we'll be studying nogtails! If you divide up into partners," here the professor paused while the class did just that. Orion yanked Harry back by the arm when he tried to edge away and find someone else to partner with. Harry glared at the only other Slytherin but resigned himself to his fate. When the class settled down, the professor continued. "Excellent! Everyone come and nogtail, and mind you don't let them escape, they're a bit of a hassle to catch."

With those instructions, everyone led a nogtail out by rope while the professor prevented the others from escaping. Orion managed to grab a disgruntled looking animal that strained in its harness, ready to run the moment Orion loosened his grip on the rope. Harry looked around. The professor was busy tying up the extra animals to s post and everyone else seemed to just be examining the small pig-like animals.

"What are we supposed to do?" Harry asked. Orion snorted.

"Whenever we start with a new animal we're supposed to spend the first day sketching it, then our homework is to label the sketch, but everyone usually just copies the drawings from the books."

"Oh." Harry crouched down to look at the nogtail. It huffed, frustrated that Orion wasn't letting go of the rope and that its efforts to escape weren't going anywhere. Harry held out his hand for the animal to sniff, as if it was a strange dog. The nogtail snuffled at him distrustfully, but then proceeded to pull away from Orion in Harry's direction rather than that of the forest. Harry crouched down and scratched the nogtail behind its rather oversized ears. It perked up and stopped pulling at the rope so much.

"I guess it doesn't matter if you're a muggleborn," Orion finally commented. Harry looked up from the nogtail.

"Why's that?" Harry asked. The nogtail tapped Harry's leg with its hoof, upset that Harry had ceased paying attention to it. Harry resumed scratching behind its ears.

"Well," Orion began, relaxing his grip on the nogtail's rope now that its only objective was to get attention from Harry, "You're in a different time now, you can just pretend to be a pureblood." Harry snorted.

"You think I can pull it off?" Harry asked. Orion was clueless as to where Harry was going with the question.

"Yeah, I mean Abraxas and I both thought you were a pureblood, and you're powerful enough that you could be," Orion told him. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me, if you couldn't tell that I was muggleborn, then doesn't that prove that muggleborns are in no way inferior?" asked Harry. Orion blinked.

"Well obviously you're an exception..." he trailed off.

"Really? What makes you so sure of that?"

"Because you're powerful enough to pass as a pureblood."

"And what makes you thing other muggleborns can't?" Harry asked irritably.

"Because," Orion hesitated for several seconds before Harry finally spoke.

"Because when you first meet muggleborns in first year its obvious they're muggleborn since they're accustomed to a different culture, therefore its easy to spot the witches and wizards who didn't grow up in the wizarding world. Now that I've been in the wizarding world for six years you can't even tell the difference. You find out who all the muggleborns are before they learn any magic."

Orion remained silent, looking at Harry thoughtfully. Harry fished out a piece of parchment from his bag as well as a quill and began sketching the nogtail, who continually tried tapping Harry with its hoof to get Harry to pet it again. Harry worked in silence for a few minutes before the professor came over.

"Hello! You must be Mr. Potter, I'm Professor Merriweather. I see you have quite a way with animals. Quite unusual for nogtails to be so friendly with humans." Professor Merriweather bounced on the balls of his feet as he observed the nogtail tap Harry again with its hoof.

"Er, is it?" Harry asked, setting down his quill and petting the animal.

"Yes, quite unusual. Tell me, you studied magical creatures in your time?" asked the professor.

"Yes, I did." Harry replied.

"What exactly did you study? I'm merely curious if the curriculum is the same in the future. Its so exciting to have a time traveler in the class!" And so Harry told the professor about the creatures he already knew about, occasionally with interjections like,

"Thestrals! Really, how marvelous. I don't suppose I would be able to get my hands on one..."

"Oh its pretty easy, all you have to do is bring raw meat into the forest and they're attracted to the smell." Harry mentioned.

"Oh, I must talk to the headmaster about adding that into our class!" Professor Merriweather said, before he got distracted by one of the nogtails in the pen working its way out of its harness. Harry picked up his quill and continued sketching for a few minutes before he asked Orion,

"Tell me, which is more inferior to you: a muggle or a squib?"

"A muggle," Orion answered easily.

"Alright, what about a squib and a muggleborn?" Harry asked.

"I guess I would say a squib," Orion replied after some thought.

"Even if the squib is pureblood?"

"Look I'm not saying that muggleborns should all be killed, its just they come in with all these muggle ideas and don't know how to be a witch or wizard." Orion said, sounding a little defensive at the question. Harry smiled. Defensive was good. Defensive meant he realized on some level that it was wrong.

"Isn't that why we're going to Hogwarts?" asked Harry.

"You clearly have no problem with muggles, why shouldn't muggleborns just live amongst muggles?" Orion asked in return.

"Because they need to be able to control their magic, just like purebloods do," Harry replied, thinking of the time he had turned his teacher's wig blue. Orion didn't answer immediately. Harry looked up from his sketch to see Orion frowning at him.

"You said they."

"What?" Harry asked.

"You said they, not we, as if you weren't a muggleborn," Orion elaborated.

"I-" Harry began, but was interrupted at once.

"You're not, are you!" Orion all but shouted.

"I am too!" Harry all but shouted back. "Sort of" he added.

"What do you mean sort of?" Orion asked.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that the wizarding world is this bigoted, unjust place that defines a person solely on who their parents are," Harry evaded.

"Not solely on who their parents are, magical power is also a deciding factor," Orion pointed out.

"But a mediocre pureblood is better than a magically powerful muggleborn."

"Well, I'd say they're about equal in my book."

"You're an idiot," Harry told Orion, taking the nogtail's rope. It immediately jumped up on him. Orion rolled his eyes and began his sketch of the creature. He managed the outline before class ended. Harry took the nogtail back to the pen, giving it one last pat. It watched him leave mournfully. As Harry and Orion followed the rest of the class back to the castle Orion finally said,

"So you may have a point about muggleborns."

"Yeah?" Harry asked, looking at Orion curiously.

"Yeah, it may not be entirely fair the way muggleborns are treated," Orion admitted.

"Great, please tell Abraxas that," Harry grinned. Orion just laughed.

"Oh that should be fun," He said sarcastically. The two of them reached the castle doors without saying anything else.

"I'm not, by the way," Harry admitted as he was about to head to the Slytherin common rooms.

"Not what?" Orion asked, turning from the direction he had been about to go. He looked at Harry expectantly.

"A muggleborn."

"Ha! I knew knew you were a pureblood!" Orion exclaimed. Harry just shook his head and walked away.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

At dinner Harry sat next to Eileen again. Orion and Abraxas sat down across from them. Eileen, who Harry had observed sitting by herself the night before, looked nervous about being by so many people.

"So Orion told me you tried to convince him that you're a muggleborn," Abraxas said by way of greeting. "As if." At Abraxas' derisive tone, Eileen met Harry's eye and then looked away, trying to hid her smile.

"Did he also tell you that your views towards muggleborns are small-minded and idiotic?" asked Harry, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. Abraxas narrowed his eyes at Harry before turning to Orion.

"Hey, I never said that!" Orion scowled at Harry. Harry just grinned.

"You're right, I was just paraphrasing. I believe you said that the way muggleborns are treated is unfair."

"No, no, I said that its possible the way muggleborns are treated is not entirely fair," Orion corrected. He looked nervously at Abraxas, who just looked amused. Harry shrugged and dug into his potatoes.

"Same difference."

"And what did our time-traveling friend say that led you to this opinion?" Abraxas asked.

"That he was a muggleborn, and that the only way to tell a muggleborn from a pureblood is by the cultural differences," Orion answered, somewhat defensively.

"But he's not a muggleborn, he's a pureblood," Abraxas stated. Eileen let out a soft giggle. Harry grinned at her. It was nice having someone in Slytherin know he was a halfblood. It was even nicer that she didn't care.

"But how do we know for sure?" asked Orion. Abraxas looked at Harry speculatively.

"I suppose we can't know for sure..." Abraxas trailed off.

"See, if you can't tell whether someone is muggleborn of not, then how can you know that muggleborns are inferior?" asked Harry.

"Magically speaking, muggleborns tend to demonstrate less power-" Abraxas began, but Harry interrupted him.

"You say that but there is no definitive proof. Muggleborns come to Hogwarts and do just as well as purebloods." At Harry's rather passionate argument Abraxas raised as eyebrow.

"I'm afraid," he said, looking entirely unimpressed, "that we will simply have to agree to disagree."

"Well I disagree with you disagreeing with me, but we can drop it for now since you clearly need the time to come up with better arguments," Harry replied. Eileen giggled. Abraxas narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Harry smiled triumphantly.

"So," Harry continued, addressing Eileen, "how was Ancient Runes?"


End file.
